Sunday, May 31, 2009

Birthday Month: A Preview

A year ago, I embarked upon what turned out to be as delightful a 30-day journey as I can recall. Neighbor Teri and I declared June to be "Birthday Month" and celebrated ourselves and new beginnings for most of its four weeks. Really amazing changes came about, ranging from beginning a remarkable summer romance, securing a most-perfect job and trying my hand at more than a few new things. Birthday Month 2009 promises to be no less exciting and I'm not even looking beyond Week 1.

So as the buzz (at least the one in my head) has indicated, I'll be starting school tomorrow. Seventeen years since I last exited the classroom, I finally have a reasonable grasp on my professional aspirations and am ready to do something about it. Tonight I'll lay out my exercise clothes, along with a bag packed with my first-day-of-school oufit and I'll create a breakfast safe for consumption on the road. I'll start my Monday as all good Mondays start: 6 a.m. spinning class. From there, a quick shower and drive to campus, facing the choice of blending in or standing out. I'm banking on the latter.

And if that alone isn't worthy of an entire Birthday Month's posts, I will run in my first ever group race the following Saturday. Hospital Hill Run. Last week I managed nearly 11 miles with no great consequences, so I'm confident that 13.1 will be, well, not exactly a cake walk, but rather doable for a stubborn girl such as myself.

The rest of the month? I'm certain it will live up to last year's reputation as life-changing, earth-shaking and mind-rattling. And quite frankly, I can't wait to see where I've gone, what I've done and who I've become by the time the calendar turns to July.